The toughest thing you will do this Diwali is refusing sweets, especially if you are a diabetic or watching your weight. But what’s Diwali without sweets? Mithais form a big part of the festival of lights. How can you resist sweet, sugary rasgollas, laddoos, pedas and sheeras? But a sugar spike is not what you can afford if you are trying to keep blood glucose levels down. Dr Tejal Lathia, consultant endocrinologist at Hiranandani Hospital, Vashi says, “A downer however, is that people around a diabetic person seem to encourage them to eat whatever they like.”

Khajur/Date Rolls

These date rolls don’t use any sweetener other than the dates themselves. All you need are 400-500gm seedless dates, ghee or clarified butter, khuskhus or poppy seeds, mixed nuts and cardamom powder.

Sugar-Free Rasogulla

It requires a lot of self-control to resist a succulent rasogulla during the festive season. But this Bengali sweet is literally dripping with sugar, since it’s immersed in syrup. If you want to make it diabetic friendly, try this recipe with sugar-free substitute instead. You won’t miss the taste.

Sugar-Free Kalakhand

This Indian sweet made with paneer and solidified milk is quite popular among the sweet lovers. This recipe does away with sugar and sweeteners completely and relies entirely on the sweetness of the milk and the flavour of cardamon.

Dry-Fruit Laddoo

A healthful laddoo recipe that doesn’t need any sugar or artificial sweetener. This one is made of nuts such as cashews, almonds, pistachios and walnuts and dried fruits like dates, figs, raisins, etc. Although it doesn’t have extra sugar, weight waters make sure you don’t go overboard because it can be calorific.

Sugar-Free Karanji

Karanji is a fixture among Diwali faral and it’s difficult to resist biting into its crunchy shell and savouring its delicious interior. If your diabetes is keeping you off the karanji, have no fear. Here’s how you can prepare a diabetic-friendly karanji.

Don’t let your weight loss aims or blood sugar levels take the sweetness away from Diwali. These sugar-free options are so delicious you will turn your nose at the regular sweet fare this festive season.